Category: Estate Planning

While your estate plan should certainly include careful strategies about how you want to pass on your assets after you pass away, it might also be worthwhile to use the annual gift tax allowance to transfer some of your property while you’re still alive. This can help a loved one who needs assistance now and it can help you minimize the size of your estate. Of course, this is a strategy that should be evaluated by your New Jersey estate planning lawyer.

Since the federal gift tax is based on gifts made within a calendar year, perhaps you’re looking ahead to what you want to gift in 2017. You are able to give up to $14,000 to each person every year without facing taxes. This means that if you have a larger gift, you can pool this with your spouse to give up to $28,000, or you can spread out your gift across several years.

In some ways, this allows you to plan ahead over many years and remove assets from your estate. It can also make sense for spendthrift children, who you may want to receive assets, but only in smaller portions than a lump sum. Depending on your needs and goals and the behavior of your beneficiaries, this might be the most effective way to handle your estate. However, this is just one strategy. This gift tax exclusion is something that will likely make up part of your estate planning but not the whole strategy. Meeting with an estate planning lawyer in Monroe Township can help you identify your short-term and long-term planning goals so that you’re making use of all relevant strategies.

As longevity has been increasing and advances in medical technology may only continue that trend, it presents an estate planning challenge for anyone, but particularly wealthy families. The major reason for this is that it can be challenging to determine when and how to pass on assets to beneficiaries so that those individuals can begin managing those assets on their own. 

Now more than ever, long-term care is a concern for people approaching retirement age and beyond. With good health, a person may lived ten or twenty years beyond their retirement age. One long-term care event, however, could threaten assets significantly if recovering from that event requires assisted living or a nursing home.

It’s not just about potential physical or mental ailments, either. While those certainly can present obstacles without proper estate planning techniques, there’s also the fact that someone entering retirement or moving on to the next phase of their life might not want to be responsible for asset management anymore. This presents an opportunity for beneficiaries to take over control of the assets while the grantor is still alive.

At face value, this seems ideal, but there may also be side consequences, too. This is why it’s a good idea to sit down with your New Jersey estate planning attorney to discuss whether it makes sense to pass assets on now and to determine the best vehicle for doing so. Planning now helps to minimize the chances of family disputes and can be better for everyone involved when done properly. Set up a consultation with an estate planning attorney today to learn more about how this can help you and your family.

There’s been no shortage of celebrity estate planning blunders in recent years, illustrating that even wealth and celebrity are not protection enough when it comes to planning for the future. So what’s behind the massive estate tax bill? 

The Prince estate is coming up on their deadline to pay the estate taxes for the musical mogul, and it’s believed that up to half of the $200 million estate would be swallowed up immediately with a payment to Uncle Sam. One of the biggest reasons for this preventable tax situation is that Prince left no will and therefore did no planning ahead to shelter any of his assets from the government.

Taking no action can be detrimental for any estate, but the stakes are higher for anyone with substantial assets like Prince. When he passed away, the estate became subject to Minnesota’s 16 percent state tax and a federal tax rate of 40 percent. Adding in deductions and exclusions, the federal government’s cut will likely be closer to 50 percent of the total estate value.

 

While the size of Prince’s estate certainly makes the issues much more serious in this case, it’s a good example of the value of estate planning for anyone. Taking no action at all can prove catastrophic and add further grief and frustration for your loved ones. There’s a good chance you have plans and ideas for your estate but that you also want to minimize any challenges your loved ones experience, too.

Thankfully, action steps now can make things easier for everyone in the future. Contact an experienced estate planning lawyer in New Jersey to talk further about strategies that you can use to minimize taxes and make the administration of your estate easier on loved ones.

Beyond never beginning the estate planning process, the second most common mistake that individuals make is thinking that estate planning is something that can be completed only once. Many people believe that if they generated an estate plan 10 or 20 years ago, they are all set for the remainder of their life. However, assets and family relationships are subject to change and that’s to say nothing of shifting estate planning rules.

In the wake of a new president-elect calling for significant changes in the estate tax process and procedures, it’s important to remember that networking with an attorney also gives you an overview of what to expect when regulations or laws are changing down the road. This could significantly compromise any estate planning documents or strategies you have aligned in the past so it’s a good idea to already have a relationship with someone who is familiar with the landscape and can help you adjust as necessary.

There are many different situations in which it’s a good idea to dust off your estate planning and revise it as changes in your life are made. The birth of a new child, a marriage or a divorce are all significant reasons that you should consider consulting with an estate planning attorney.

Has it been some time since you’ve taken a look at your past planning? Now is a good opportunity to ensure that your plans are still in line with your needs

Most people fall off the habit train for their resolutions pretty quickly, but you can buck that trend by putting in a call to an estate planning lawyer now. If it’s been some time since you sat down with an attorney to walk through your needs, the new year is a great time to recap the changes in your life and determine whether old strategies are still helping you accomplish your goals.

One of the most common reasons you’d need to update an estate plan is due to changes in your family. This could be in the form of marriage, the birth of a new child or grandchild, or divorce. As those changes occur, you need to make sure that your documents are in line with the updates in your life.

An estate planning lawyer can help you walk through what you need and how well your current plan is performing with your strategies. If updates are needed, or documents need to be created entirely, your lawyer can help point you in the right direction. In order to make sure you get the updates to your estate planning done, contact a lawyer today to make an appointment. Getting it set up now can help you clarify your needs and gives you a better chance of accomplishing the goal. Bring any current documents with you to the meeting. It’s also helpful to have an inventory of any assets and liabilities, too.

A new study indicates that not much has changed in the landscape of retirement and estate planning; these are major issues that a lot of boomers are struggling with. While there’s a general recognition that both processes are valuable, a lack of action can put pre-retirees and retirees at risk of major problems.

These outcomes are from Hearts & Wallets, a data firm that seeks to explore how investors make decisions. In their yearly survey, the organization looked at more than 5,000 adults classified as “late-career” (those between 53 and 64) and individuals who plan to retire within the next several years.

While most survey respondents were somewhat confounded by the most appropriate response to retirement planning, estate planning was a tricky subject, too for both retirees and pre-retirees. Estate planning was an area in which individuals were more likely to become overwhelmed. For all the respondents, 26% said that estate planning was very difficult or somewhat difficult. Along with that, however, less than 10% of those same individuals actually reached out to get help with their estate planning.

While the prospect of getting your affairs in order, whether it’s for your own retirement or for estate planning purposes, can seem overwhelming, there are also major benefits to getting it done and forming a relationship with experienced professionals in this area. Finding the right lawyer, for example, can clear up most of your estate planning questions pretty quickly. Don’t let your family be the ones trying to answer difficult questions or navigate the probate process on their own- get these concerns addressed upfront by setting up a meeting with a New Jersey estate planning lawyer.

 

Your estate plan should be a living document, and there’s a good chance that it will evolve as you add and remove strategies going forward. As laws change or as the makeup of your family changes, the tactics and documents previously created may no longer apply.

There are several key things that could happen in the New Year that could warrant an updated estate plan:

• Injury or Illness: Whether it’s a family member getting sick and you need to help them revise their plan or whether you’re concerned about your own health, having a power of attorney is strongly recommended. Your lawyer can help you determine what is most appropriate for your situation.
• Divorce: Getting a divorce presents numerous changes in your life. Since your former spouse was probably linked to all your prior documents and plans, you need to have a sit-down with your estate planning attorney to walk through updates. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that since these plans were set up once that they are still fine.
• Marriage: As with any family change, marriage represents a lot of financial and legal differences, too. Ensure that your estate plan is in line with your new spouse and any children. This becomes even more important if you’re getting remarried. 
• Adoption of or birth of children: The birth or adoption of a child is an opportunity to revisit your estate plan. If you were childless before, there’s a solid chance your estate plan needs an overhaul. Make sure that you put in a call to your estate planning attorney as soon as possible so that you can update these important materials.

If you see change on the horizon in 2017, such as a marriage or the birth of a new child, take the necessary steps to have a conversation about your estate plan before it happens.

 

Along with appraisers, estate lawyers, and CPAs, family business owners were present in an Internal Revenue Service auditorium recently, to share their opposition to propose Treasury Department rules that will have a significant impact on their legacy plans. These proposed rules are referred to as the 2704 regulations and these would minimize valuation discounts and lead to increased estate taxes on the death of an owner of the family business. 

Many of the people opposing these regulations were in the room to support that they be withdrawn entirely. Supporters of the rule believe that the estate gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes would close a tax loophole that is only being used by the wealthy.

However, opponents believe that this would eliminate any discounts which are used appropriately and legitimately across succession planning toolkits across the United States. Many people testified of their concerns about how this would impact their family business.

This hearing drew the largest crowd ever to show up at a public hearing at the Treasury, and the proposed rules have already drawn comments from 9, 477 members of the public as well. The hearing itself lasted all day.

As estate planning and business succession planning tools and tactics are subject to change, it is important to form a relationship with an experienced business succession planning lawyer early on.

                                                                                                                

According to plenty of research studies, half of all individuals in the United States don’t have an estate plan or a will at all. People make plenty of opportunities to make excuses for putting off the inevitable. For example, you may be uncomfortable thinking about or planning for your own mortality, or you may be under the impression that you don’t have enough assets to warrant an estate plan.

However, passing away without a will or any more extensive plan can only add further grief and frustration for your family members. You could risk changing the family dynamics by having family members forced to figure out the next possible steps. During a time when they are already coping with the grief of a lost loved one, it can be too much to bear to deal with the probate process.

Without any will in place in New Jersey, decisions about who will administer your estate or who could be appointed to be the guardian of your minor children will fall to a local probate court. This might mean that your intentions are not carried out as you would have wished them to be. Thankfully, setting up a consultation with an experienced estate planning attorney gives you the opportunity to address these issues sooner rather than later. Your estate plan is something that needs to be flexible and adjustable based on your individual needs and your loved ones’. A knowledgeable attorney can meet with you on an annual basis to ensure that your documents have incorporated any changes in the family.

                                                                                                                                                                                           

There are many different reasons that you might choose to engage in the estate planning process and all of them are important. Thinking carefully about your family’s future as well as the individual wishes you have for how your owned assets will be passed on are some of the most common reasons that you might approach the estate planning process. Likewise, many people think about estate planning in the context of handling something after they have recently been married, divorced or had a new child added to the family. 

When confronting difficult or rare medical issues, it is important to consider long-range healthcare planning as well. An increasing number of individuals will be confronted with long-term care planning opportunities. With long-term care, disabilities and challenges but failing to plan for these could mean unnecessary financial stress.

Thinking carefully now about how you plan to approach the long term care planning process can enable you and your loved ones to approach the future more effectively. For example, are you going to purchase long-term care insurance to assist with covering these costs in the event that you had a long-term care event? Or will you be relying on yourself, essentially self-insuring? Bear in mind that there are strict rules about qualifying for Medicaid and that you may need to take action now in order to capitalize on a plan that allows you to ultimately qualify for Medicaid down the line.

Don’t wait too long to take these steps as it could ad additional stress and frustration for you and family members. It can even be difficult to make the right decisions when you feel rushed into this opportunity. Do not hesitate to get the help you need from an experienced estate planning and elder law attorney.

                                                                                                                                                                                           

As you gather with family for this holiday season, keep in mind that talking about your estate plan could become difficult if you have plans separate from what your loved ones intended. However, this is also a great opportunity to stay focused on what you need to share and how best to support your loved ones.

First of all, make sure that someone has access to the information that will be necessary in the event that you pass away. For example, your estate planning attorney should have a copy of everything but you may also wish to let a loved one know where relevant information such as your documents are stored, like in a safe deposit box or access to your password related information.

You may want to have your loved ones step in to deactivate or memorialize your social media accounts, for example, but they may be unable to do this if you do not provide them with the appropriate tools to get it done. It can be difficult to manage these accounts event after someone has passed away and you have relevant proof that they are indeed deceased.

Companies must obtain additional support and it may be simply easier for you to leave behind your password access information or use a tool such as Last Pass to authorize other individuals in the event that something were to happen to you. When visiting with family, try to avoid conversations about who will be receiving what unless your loved ones can come to a sense of agreement on various pieces of property. Over the holidays, arguing about various assets and materials could quickly devolve into a major family argument if you are not careful.

      

When it comes to putting together the critical documents that outline what will happen to you in the event that you become incapacitated or your property in the event that you pass away, it might seem like a crockpot that you can set and forget. However, estate planning requires regular maintenance and oversight just as you would visit your dentist or your doctor on an annual or biannual basis for your health. 

As the dynamics of your family change, it is important to keep in contact with your experienced estate planning attorney so that you can adjust your documents as necessary. As family members pass away and new ones are born into the family, your estate plan should account for these changes and for different circumstances that can arise over time. Most people update their estate planning according to major life-changing events like having a child, retiring, or getting married.

However, this leaves you at risk for not having a plan that is in line with your ultimate retirement and other planning options. The purpose of any planning is to ensure the maximum outcome for everyone involved and as your needs shift within your family, you need to incorporate these planning opportunities into the estate planning process as well.

 

If you are thinking about possibly becoming a snowbird, it’s a good idea to do some financial and estate planning first. A recent study from Maryland indicates that by age 61, the majority of individuals feel as though they are free to choose where they want to live the most. Earlier in life, however, many people say that their life responsibilities such as their place of work and their family will dictate where they dwell. This means that it’s no surprise that some retirees will choose to move at least part-time to a new location.

Approximately one-third of retirees told Merrill Lynch that they have already moved to a new location part or full time and another one-third anticipate doing so shortly. It is important to consider which place you intend to keep as your primary place of residence if you are considering your estate planning options.

Some states have no income tax, for example, and others have tax rates for retirement income and on real estate taxes for older individuals. Estate taxes can also be more favorable in some states than in others. Regardless, you should have a conversation with your experienced estate planning attorney in New Jersey before you identify a new place to move to.

 

The New Jersey estate tax came under fire politically in this past year leading to an agreement to get rid of it entirely. Many people within the state were considering their options to move and retire elsewhere primarily because of the NJ state estate tax, a tool that many viewed as archaic and unnecessary. Some people moved to neighboring states or even established a residence in Florida half the year to avoid hefty taxes. Perhaps those days will be coming to an end very shortly and New Jersey can keep more people within the state as they live out their retirement and golden years. 

According to the New Jersey Society of CPAs, up to three-quarters of their survey pool indicated that moving to another state was a serious retirement strategy given NJ’s state estate tax. This was the leading reason for why legislators began to think about letting it go entirely. With a rising number of people eager to leave the state and avoid such a large chunk of their estate being taken, it’s likely that eventually the revenue received from the estate tax would have decreased significantly.

At present, all estates valued at more than $675,000 trigger the estate tax. That threshold will be lifted to $2 million in 2017 and then will completely disappear in 2018. Once that happens, all estates will be taxed if they exceed the federal threshold. With this phase-out, it’s a good idea to set up a meeting with your NJ estate planning lawyer today to discuss your options. You may have more flexibility as this plan is phased out and be looking for new planning opportunities to make the most of what you leave behind for heirs.

 

 

It’s the holiday season, and that means that everyone is out and about grabbing gifts, food for their favorite recipes, and preparing for some time off for work. As we approach the New Year, there’s also a decent chance that you’re mentally recapping 2016 and trying to get things in order for the year ahead, too. Even though most people recognize that an estate plan is a good set of tools to have, so many people put it off. While they might schedule an end-of-year review for their retirement plan savings, it’s often not as easy for people to confront their estate planning weaknesses. If this is you, putting it off only serves to hurt you or your beneficiaries. 

There’s no doubt that it’s uncomfortable to think about a situation in which you might be incapacitated or pass away. You might also think that you don’t have enough assets in your “estate” to worry about things. Consider that the only thing that could make a sudden disabling event or your death more difficult for loved ones is a lack of planning. An overcomplicated estate plan does not have to be for everyone. However, many people who suddenly have a vigor for estate planning do so because they’ve witnessed the problems of a friend or family member who didn’t take the time.

The loss of a loved one presents a unique set of emotional challenges, and it can be devastating to watch family members confused about or arguing over the intentions of the deceased. For many, it’s a wake-up call to begin their own estate planning process. What happens in this situation, all too often, is overcompensation. You think you need every single strategy or type of document to prevent your loved ones from suffering something similar.

Rather than backing yourself into a corner and planning from that perspective, it’s much more effective to meet with an estate planning attorney to discuss your unique needs. Our office is here to help you- contact us today at info@lawesq.net.

Once and done is a common rallying cry for online sites that promise you a template-generated will. However, it’s a big mistake to look at your estate planning in that manner. You could end up creating more hassle for yourself and for loved ones. There are many more advantages associated with an estate planning system, one that’s aligned with your individual needs and dreams. 

An estate planning system can be crafted with the help of an experienced lawyer. Working with a lawyer gives you the best possible chance to protect yourself and have the peace of mind that all aspects of your incapacity and after-death planning have been accomplished. Setting up a meeting once gets the ball rolling, but it’s your responsibility to follow-up at least on an annual basis to make sure your estate planning is in line with any life or policy changes.

Some of the most important aspects of an estate planning system include:

• Peace of mind for a business owner to control his or her wealth/business for as long as they desire or live
• Treat all children fairly in the passing down of assets
• Ensure that an individual and his/her spouse have considered incapacity issues and have a plan in place to support their lifestyle as long as they live
• Planning ahead for how a business will be passed on to future heirs or in-company talent
• Clears up concerns about going through the probate process

Your system, and in particularly working with an attorney who undertands your unique concerns, is the only way to comprehensively address all your issues on an ongoing basis. Estate planning is not something that should be looked at once and then ignored.

There are always a handful of documents you should include in your estate plan to accomplish the most effective goals for you. This is true whether you have a complicated estate with a lot of assets or whether you need some simple tools to accomplish your basic goals. Remember that estate planning is about more than figuring what will happen to your property after you pass away. You also need a clear plan to protect yourself while you’re still alive, including documents that enable others to make decisions on your behalf if something happens to you. 

Some of the most important documents you should have in your arsenal include:

• Durable power of attorney
• Basic will
• Advanced medical directives
• Letter of instruction
• Living trust

Before you start looking online for a template, however, be aware that these generic forms often fail to capture the unique aspects of your life and may not even be legally valid for your state. Finding a lawyer and scheduling an initial consultation is strongly recommended in the event that you need insight from an experienced attorney. This gives you more peace of mind that your documents are accurate and in line with your life and needs.

Did you know there are a lot of mistakes you can make in your estate planning process? Thankfully, many of them can be avoided successfully if you work with an experienced estate planning lawyer as soon as you intend to get started.

These mistakes can end up costing you and your beneficiaries a lot of unnecessary stress and frustration. Read on to learn more.

• A do it yourself will or trust
• Not having a will at all
• Not coordinating beneficiary designations with your will
• Not coordinating retirement account designations with the will
• Improperly using a lifetime trust
• Giving gifts outright to minors
• Trying to do it all on your own
• Failing to update your documents where necessary
• Owning your own life insurance
• Not including flexibility in your plan

Your experienced lawyer can help you figure out your next steps if you’re ready for estate planning.

Before your first meeting with an estate planning attorney, it’s a good idea to think about whether you already have any documents from years ago or what assets you have that you want to pass on to others. Depending on your individual needs, your estate plan can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. Thankfully, an estate planning lawyer can help you figure out your next steps.

Putting together an inventory of your assets is one way to start the process before your meeting with your estate planning lawyer. An experienced attorney will likely start off the meeting by asking you some questions in order to determine what you need. From there, you’ll develop a strategy and a plan to accomplish your estate planning goals.

Make copies of all your existing estate planning documents, your asset inventory, and the names of anyone who you want to include in your will. Your lawyer will help walk you through putting together documents to protect you during your lifetime as well as what will happen to your assets after you pass away.

Being organized is the most important step to be prepared for your first meeting with an estate planning lawyer. If you’re ready to talk options, set up a meeting with a NJ estate planning lawyer.

A new study from Wealth Counsel reveals that half of Americans believe estate planning is not for them and that it’s only for the extremely wealthy. These individuals assume they don’t have enough assets in order to reap any benefits from the estate planning process. Only 46 percent of people in the U.S. think that a trust would be a necessary component in their estate plans. Often, a trust is a key component in estate planning as it adds more control and privacy to any estate, regardless of size. 

This is combined with the fact that more than one-third of people in the country admit to not even having a will. Of those, 37 percent say that they have not had the conversation about their estate planning with family members due to the perception of lack of assets. Nearly another 30 percent of those respondents believe that there’s no real benefit in putting together an estate plan at all.

 

The reality is that people of all income and asset brackets can benefit from estate planning. Whether it’s basic tools like a will that help to clarify things for loved ones after you pass away or documents that ensure your financial matters or healthcare wishes are taken care of if you become incapacitated  are worthwhile endeavors.

If you have questions about how estate planning can help you, contact an experienced lawyer today to learn more.